


retro spin

by thunderylee



Category: Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: Canon Universe, Multi, eito renjaa, member love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-29
Updated: 2008-07-29
Packaged: 2019-02-05 05:12:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12787734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: Now that Uchi’s back, Ohkura isn’t the youngest anymore and has competition for attention, particularly Hina’s.





	retro spin

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck.

Uchi hasn’t even been back for a week yet, and already Hina wants to choke him. As comforting as it is to learn that Uchi is still the same little shit he was three years ago, except maybe a little cockier, he’s _trying_ to take care of business here.

Business, at this moment, is where to go for dinner, but eight hungry Kansai men could possibly amount to death and destruction if left unguided, therefore Hina considers it _saving the world_ when he manages to get everyone’s attention off of Uchi and back on the important matter at hand.

“Who ruffled your feathers?” Uchi asks plainly as he goes over the lead parts with Subaru, who is so happy that he doesn’t have to carry the tune all the time anymore that he hasn’t stopped grinning since the announcement was made.

“Uchi!” Hina growls, struggling to control his temper. He never did know what it was about this kid that riled him up, just that everyone else found amusement in it.

“I ruffled your feathers?” Uchi jokes. “Shingo-kun, aren’t you happy to have me back?”

Hina seethes through his teeth. That’s another thing – ever since Uchi was reinstated, he’s insisted on calling Hina by his first name. Hina has no problem with his first name, or people using it in most situations, but on Uchi’s lips it sounds belittling. “Of course I am,” he hisses.

“That doesn’t sound very convincing,” speaks up Ohkura, whose voice is entirely too close, and it isn’t until there’s a hand on his shoulder that Hina jumps from the now second-youngest’s surprise approach. “Hina-chan, why are you so tense?”

Hina inwardly corrects himself. _Every word_ from Ohkura’s lips is mocking, particularly his nickname. He starts to sigh, but then his stomach grumbles and he can’t help but laugh with everyone else.

“Quick, we have to feed him before he kills us all!” Yoko cries, shoving Ryo off of his lap and all but pushing Hina out the door while Subaru rounds up the others and Yasu sneaks past everyone to start Ohkura’s SUV.

“You know what they’re doing, right?” Yoko whispers when they’re all buckled in, although Hina’s not quite sure that Subaru and Maruyama’s arms count as seatbelts, but Yasu’s not complaining.

“Eh?” Hina says distractedly.

“They’re _competing_ ,” Yoko says exasperatedly, like Hina is the most retarded person on the planet not to see this.

Hina eyes Uchi as he jankens with Ryo for no reason, then Ohkura as he glares in the rearview in-between cutting off stupid Tokyo drivers. “Competing for what?”

Yoko sighs. “I’ll never understand women.”

Hina responds by twisting his nipple, and Yoko’s shriek makes him feel a little better.

::

“Shingo-kun, are you sure you’ve had enough?”

Hina belches in response, which he feels is a valid answer. “Okay guys, we’ve been loitering here long enough. Let’s split up the tab.”

“No need,” says Ohkura grandly, reaching for the check. “My treat.”

Amongst the chorus of eh’s and thank you’s and a comment from Subaru about putting out, Yoko’s chuckles ring clear in Hina’s ears along with the following words spoken under his breath: “Playing the money card. He’ll never learn.”

“What are you going on about?” Hina asks, much less irritable after some good food and a waitress with nice cleavage.

Yoko smiles in the way that creeps out people who don’t know him. “Nothing.”

Narrowing his eyes, Hina starts to verbally beat it out of him, except that Uchi’s tugging on his sleeve and pointing to a dessert on the menu, which quite honestly looks delicious except that there’s no way he could eat the whole thing.

“I want to get this,” Uchi whispers, very loudly, “but I don’t want to take advantage of Tacchon’s generosity. Plus, I don’t think I can eat it all. Will you share it with me? I’ll pay for it.”

It’s probably the most genuine thing Uchi’s said to him, ever, and for that reason alone Hina nods before he really knows what he’s doing. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Yoko shaking his head disapprovingly, but where he should be looking is the other way where Ohkura’s glaring and stabbing his napkin with his chopsticks.

Hina doesn’t bat an eye when Uchi insists on feeding him; while he is perfectly capable of feeding himself, sometimes it’s nice to sit back and let someone else do the work for a change.

“Consider it making up for lost time,” Uchi says sweetly, opening his mouth as a demonstration as he swirls the spoon towards Hina.

When Ohkura takes everyone home, Hina manages to fall asleep with Uchi in his lap and Yoko’s knowing chuckles ringing in his ears.

::

Uchi standing before them in his hot-pink ranger suit is equivalent to seeing a daughter on her wedding day. A costume he never got a chance to wear, one which has been sitting in the back of Kanjani8’s costume room, untouched, for over three years. It had to be tailored to account for Uchi’s growth, and the minute they got it back Ryo insisted that Uchi try it on.

Predictably, Subaru and Yasu are choked up. “We’re really eight again!” Yasu’s crying.

Ryo’s in his yellow suit, just because, and angles his camera phone to take pictures of himself and Uchi, who leans down to keep from towering over Ryo.

“Let’s change the skit!” Maruyama suggests gleefully. “Eito Rangers find their long lost member!”

“But,” Yasu says slowly, flicking his eyes towards Ohkura. “Isn’t it Green’s turn to be the center of the skit?”

Seven heads swivel towards Ohkura, who blinks and smiles oddly. “Pink’s return is more important, isn’t it?”

Uchi looks surprised, but he nods gratefully at Ohkura and continues to pose as Ryo snaps pictures and the others brainstorm scenarios for their upcoming concert.

“I got it,” Yoko says, his booming voice causing all others to cease and pay close attention. “Our conflict is that Green is used to being the youngest, and now that Pink is back he doesn’t get all of the attention anymore.”

“Ooh, that’s good!” Yasu chirps. “This way Green can still be a main part of it!”

Ohkura’s smile twitches.

“Only _nobody notices_ ,” Yoko goes on. “Except Black, but that’s because he’s smarter than everyone.”

It’s become an impulse now, Hina smacking Yoko in the head without even thinking about it.

“So Black resolves it?” Yasu questions.

“Not exactly,” Yoko replies. “See, they’re trying to out-do each other for a particular Ranger’s affections – Nasu.”

Startled, Hina turns towards Yoko. “Why Nasu?”

“Nasu is like the mommy,” Black explains. “Both Pink and Green want to be the favorite. They do all kinds of outrageous things to try and win him over, like pay for elaborate meals or try to feed Nasu, who is oblivious to their competition. It’s not until Green gives up and stops trying that Nasu notices and fixes it himself.”

Hina stills, goosebumps forming on his arms as realization smacks him in the face. Metaphorically, of course. “How does Nasu fix it?” he asks carefully.

Yoko pauses, looking relieved and exasperated at the same time. “That’s for Nasu to figure out,” he says slowly. “Black can’t do _everything_.”

“It’s good so far!” Maruyama says, giving Hina an encouraging grin. “Nasu will think of something great, I’m sure.”

Uchi approaches Ohkura and bows his head. “Pink looks forward to competing with Green for Nasu’s affections.”

Ohkura’s expression turns into a smirk. “May the best Ranger win.”

::

Hina walks into rehearsal the next day to see two pink bentos next to Uchi’s bag, one of which has a lavender ribbon tied around it.

“I had my mom make two,” Uchi explains. “Shingo-kun should eat better! You’re not getting any younger, you know.”

Peering suspiciously at the bento, Hina overlooks the age comment and lets his curiosity get the best of him. His eyes widen when he sees his favorites that he usually doesn’t buy due to price and preparation time. “Uchi, your mom probably had to get up at four a.m. to make these.”

“I know, isn’t it great?” Uchi grins. “I told her about the Ranger skit and she wants to help me win. I’ll be bringing you lunch for the rest of week.”

Hina laughs as he puts the lid back on. “I don’t think it’s a matter of win or lose -”

“Oh, but it is,” Uchi says seriously. “I need to get into the mindset of Pink. I haven’t been an Eito Ranger before!”

Hina takes a deep breath, placing the bento back next to Uchi’s before taking Uchi’s hands in his. “You’ve _always_ been an Eito Ranger,” he says strongly. “Pink _exists_ because of you.”

All expression on Uchi’s face ceases, only his eyes rising to meet Hina’s. “You always say encouraging things like that,” he says, his voice wavering. “When you’re not yelling at me, that is.”

Hina laughs. “You may be annoying, but you’re still one of us.”

“Eight is one,” a voice from the doorway declares, and Ohkura’s strong hands clamp onto Hina’s shoulders as he nods his agreement. “Don’t ever doubt that.”

“I won’t,” Uchi says, squeezing Hina’s hands as the others start pouring in.

Ryo immediately races to Uchi’s side. “Why do you look like you’re about to cry? What did they do to you?”

“Ryo-chan,” Uchi sobs. “I missed you. I missed you all.”

Wordlessly, Ryo flings his arms around Uchi’s neck and hugs him tightly. Subaru and Maruyama race to do the same, Yasu kneels to take one of Uchi’s hands from Hina, and Yoko ends up petting Uchi’s hair because that’s the only thing left to comfort.

Ohkura remains standing behind Hina, tightening his grip on his shoulders in a very rough massage. Hina doesn’t mind, leaning back while Ohkura digs into his shoulder blades and rests his chin on the top of Hina’s head.

Uchi opens his eyes and laughs as he’s embraced by so many people. “I’m losing again,” he says. “Pink needs to stop being emotional and concentrate on winning Nasu from Green!”

Ohkura twists his wrists particularly hard and Hina’s back arches, a deep grunt escaping from his lungs as Ohkura works out one of the more prominent kinks.

“Green plays dirty,” he hears Ryo whisper to Uchi.

Yoko’s snickers do not go unnoticed as Ohkura moves to Hina’s lower back and has his eyes rolling in the back of his head. “There are only two days until the concert. What will Nasu do?”

::

When they get to the venue the night before, Hina still doesn’t know how the skit will end. Yoko is no help, along with the others who just tell him to do his best. Everyone is so excited about Uchi being back that not a single one of them complained about having to reconfigure formations and song parts.

By the time Hina gets back to his hotel room, it’s almost two a.m. and they _just_ finished putting the final touches on the concert. Minus the end of the Ranger skit, that is. Hina lays awake in the darkness, contemplating his options – on one hand, he and Uchi go way back to their junior days, and despite the age difference they’ve always been close, even during the suspension. On the other hand, Ohkura’s actually been around for the past three years, not always the most open and outgoing but he has his own way of being loyal to his bandmates.

After an hour of listening to the hum of the air conditioner, Hina sighs and reaches for his phone, sending a text message as he rolls out of bed to put on some pants.

He’s just turned on the lights when there’s a knock, and two very sleepy faces greet him on the other side of the door.

“It is a credit to how much I like you that I’m here,” Ohkura grumbles, his eyes practically closed as he stumbles into the room and flops face-first onto the bed.

“You could have just come to my room,” Uchi says with a yawn. “I never lock the door.”

Ohkura snorts into the comforter but keeps his opinions to himself.

“I need to talk to you both about the skit tomorrow,” Hina says, sounding much more certain than he really is.

Uchi perches on the edge of the bed, giving Hina his undivided attention, while Ohkura just rolls over enough to face him and grunts.

“The truth is,” Hina begins, stalling with a deep breath. “… I can’t decide.”

Uchi tilts his head in confusion, but Ohkura laughs so hard that he almost falls off of the bed. “Are you serious?” Ohkura asks, finally opening his eyes and sitting up. “You called me out of bed for this?”

“I thought that was kind of obvious, Shingo-kun,” Uchi says carefully, appearing like he’s biting the inside of his cheek to keep from joining Ohkura in his amusement. “Nasu can’t play favorites, right? He loves everyone unconditionally.”

Hina stands awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “Right. But you two were so adamant on competing against each other -”

He’s cut off when Ohkura really does fall off the bed, howling in laughter as he rubs his head from where he landed. Hina rushes to see if he’s okay but Uchi gets there first, leaning over the edge with his hair in his face and reaching his hand out to help Ohkura back up.

“I lied,” Ohkura says breathlessly, crawling back onto the bed with Uchi’s help. “This was worth getting woken up for. Hina, you idiot.”

“Eh?” Hina squawks, not used to seeing Ohkura like this.

“It’s just a skit,” Ohkura says slowly, like he’s speaking to a child. “Clearly you’re supposed to say that you love us both the same and there’s no reason to compete.”

Uchi nods his agreement. “Did you think it was something more?”

“Of course not,” Hina says quickly, folding his arms. “I just wanted to make sure _you_ didn’t.”

“You’ve always been a bad liar,” Uchi says outright, making Ohkura choke on his yawn and laugh some more. “But that’s okay, it’s cute.”

“Cute?” Hina booms. “I am not cute.”

“Hina-chan is cute!” Ohkura exclaims in a high-pitched voice, laughing some more. “I cannot wait to tell the others about this.”

Hina growls. “I’m going to _kill_ Yoko.”

Shaking his head, Uchi pulls Hina’s arm until he lands on the bed between them. “After all this time, you still believe everything Yoko tells you? You were that gullible before I left!”

As Hina covers his reddening face with his hands, Ohkura pats him on the back. “See Uchi, nothing has changed at all.”

::

“I can’t take this anymore!” Nasu cries, waving his hands as he walks away from Green and Pink, who both follow him and continue to shove their respective presents in his face. “I can’t choose between you two, and you can’t make me!”

Green and Pink pause, letting their presents fall to the floor, where they’re picked up by invisible juniors as the youngest Rangers rush to stand on either side of Nasu. “What are you saying?” Pink squeals, making his eyes big and quivering his bottom lip.

“I’m saying I like you both the same!” Nasu screams. “It doesn’t matter who’s the youngest or who’s been gone for however long. Neither of you need to compete for my affections because you _already have them_!”

Green and Pink break out into identical grins, both throwing their arms around Nasu and squeezing him until he protests. “Yay, we’re the favorite!” they squeal together.

Sidestage, Black shakes his head and steps forward. “Regardless of who’s the favorite, the Eito Rangers are the most glad to be eight again. Welcome home, Pink.”

“I’m home,” Pink says, his voice a little choked up.

Yellow is the first one to run, then Orange and Blue, and finally Red and Black race across the stage to envelop Pink in an eight-person hug.

The audience roars, but Nasu can’t hear it over the pounding of all eight of their hearts.


End file.
